Development of automatic crack identification algorithm for a concrete sleeper using pattern recognition

Abstract

Concrete sleepers, installed on majority of railroad track in this nation can, if not maintained properly, threaten the safety of running trains. In this paper, an algorithm for automatically identifying cracks in a sleeper image, taken by high-resolution camera, is developed based on Adaboost, known as the strongest adaptive algorithm and most actively utilized algorithm of current days. The developed algorithm is trained using crack characteristics drawn from the analysis results of crack and non-crack images of field-installed sleepers. The applicability of the developed algorithm is verified using 48 images utilized in the training process and 11 images not used in the process. The verification results show that cracks in all the sleeper images can be successfully identified with an identification rate greater than 90%, and that the developed automatic crack identification algorithm therefore has sufficient applicability.